PARIS GOURTSOYANNIS

Blundering council chiefs forgot to switch off the Christmas lights on a Lothian street for more than three weeks.

Residents of Jarvey Street in Bathgate have had a bumper dose of festive cheer to banish the January blues, with illuminated decorations on lampposts left blazing despite it being more than half way to Valentine’s Day and far beyond Twelfth Night, January 6.

The lights, which are owned and managed by the town’s business improvement district but powered by the council, were only switched off after West Lothian officials were contacted by the Evening News on Thursday.

The local authority may not need to pawn off five gold rings to cover the bill, but has received little true love from locals, who hit out at the waste of electricity.

Bathgate community councillor Ronald MacLeod said it was “high time the lights came down”.

And nearby resident Alain Johnston, who alerted the Evening News to the festive faux-pas, said: “I walk through the street occasionally, and I noticed the lights were still on about a week ago. It amused me then, but now it’s just a bit crazy that they’re still there.

“With the snow coming, it does get you back into the Christmas spirit a bit. I had to go back and take some photos because it just looks like the street where Christmas never ends.”

But Mr Johnston added in Scrooge-like fashion: “It’s a waste of electricity. It’s just symbolic of the council.”

A spokeswoman for West Lothian Council said: “There are 77 festive features in Bathgate, with three of them located in Jarvey Street.

“Seventy-four lights were switched off on Monday, January 5. Unfortunately, three lights in Jarvey Street were missed. The lights have now been disconnected.”

The spokeswoman did not reveal whether council staff involved in the oversight would be getting a lump of coal in their stockings next year.